SWTOR: Bioware reveals Galactic Starfighter second digital expansion

The second digital expansion for SWTOR was revealed today to be Galactic Starfighter, a digital expansion that features PvP dogfighting in space. This digital expansion will be free for all players with early access for subscribers.

Features

TAKE YOUR BATTLE TO SPACE!

Experience epic Player-vs-Player (PvP) dogfighting in the new Free-to-Play Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Digital Expansion, Galactic Starfighter. Join 12v12 free flight combat action and jump into fierce factional battles as the war between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic explodes into space. Compete and advance to earn ground game rewards plus new weapons, powers and abilities to customize your ultimate Starfighter!

There will not be a new planet and there is no increase to the level cap with this expansion. We really wanted to focus this expansion around space off of rails where you get to fight your friends (and enemies!)

To that point, there will not be any Space based PvE content with the Digital Expansion. It is only going to be PvP. -eric

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Congrats Dulfy for such a quick response post, I admire you! Good Information tyvm

Mhonde

No level up quests? fps? ops? planets?
The expansion seems pretty close in time but we know nothing other than SSSP.

http://dulfy.net/ Dulfy

Well it is free, just treat it as anther minigame addition to the game and not as an xpack.

Chuck Finley

They also mentioned that ‘more info would be released over time’ just like with Rise of the Hutt Cartel, so there may be a lvl cap increase that hasn’t been mentioned yet. they just post the most exciting thing as the first announcement and in this case Space Pvp would be more exciting than lvl increase to 60 (though that’s great too). So it may just be a secondary announcement for in a few weeks

http://dulfy.net/ Dulfy

Eric just mentioned that that there will be no level cap increase, no new planet, and no PvE content. It is all PvP space combat 12v12 combat.

Robert Hindy

He also mentioned that this will have an entirely separate level system, similar to Valor and Social Levels.

From the forums. Posted by Eric Musco, BioWare’s Community Director:

“Although I cannot go into specifics yet, what I can say is that there is a system of leveling and progression for Galactic Starfighter itself, and just like the rest of SWTOR, subscribers will get a bonus to that progression.

-eric”

Chuck Finley

Ahhh yeah just came back and read all of that. None of that was there last night. Sorry, just being hopeful

Sammy @ BC

Awesome!

Hampus Jensen

As excited as I am to play this there better be PvE missions in the works as well, doesn’t have to come out at the same time but half a year down the line at most. I fear Bioware is to lazy to make even some basic AI to handle it though.

deathmetalnightmare

i want PVE raids/dungeons in space! (i also want the PVP). i want BOTH.

Kodiak

Sounds like PvP only to start…but this is a step in the right direction. I imagine they can use the same engine and mechanics for future PvE content and I’d be shocked if we didn’t get some kind of space Ops in the future.

Isla

I imagine PvP content simply took the least time, and they wanted to ship an update. They might want more for a PvE revamp (I mean, what they have in place is essentially PvE, just not off the rails..) which may demand more time, especially if it involves stories, new quests, rewards, achievements, and whatnot.

ThePilgrim

Its common knowledge that a grand majority of the community prefers PvE over PvP, but recently they have been adding more PvP content to the game. Arenas, and now this. Plus you have to remember, this won’t be ordinary PvP! This might as well be a completely different section of the game, which it is. So if you suck at PvP in WZs and Arenas, who knows, you could be amazing at this.

Oscar Enrique Miranda

omfg!! finally!!! T.T im going to cry

Neith

What really is Early Gunship Unlock, ship, weapon, paint?

http://dulfy.net/ Dulfy

Looks like gunship is one of the ships you can pilot? So maybe early access to it?

Neith

Just wanted to know because subscribing one month early for one silly thing or for one good thing.

driler

Any information that indicates current space missions and reputation will have any bearing on the new space content?

TJWoo

No, and that’s extremely doubtful that it will.

Robert Hindy

No:

From the forums. Posted by Eric Musco, BioWare’s Community Director:

“Although I cannot go into specifics yet, what I can say is that there is a system of leveling and progression for Galactic Starfighter itself, and just like the rest of SWTOR, subscribers will get a bonus to that progression.

-eric”

Matthew R

Personally I’m disappointed. JTL for SWG had far more content to offer than this at launch, and this seems to be incomplete. All of the models/videos (that I’ve seen so far) seem cartoonish, the customizations appear to mainly be for visual appearances, and the only content is PVP. I’m still hopeful they’ll surprise us with more detailed info over the coming months, but so far it looks like a rushed minigame.

The Star Citizen dogfighting module goes live about the same time, so there may be hope for a Space MMO experience if this fails to deliver.

Termx

You obviously didn’t play it well enough if you’re going to compare JTL with this expansion. JTL was just a giant space map with the AI behaving like mobs do on the ground around their spawn layers. They don’t navigate around the map like a real simulation. The PvE missions were no different than ground kill missions and the profession mission progress was often buggy, sometimes way too difficult (even with friends joining) for your current Tier ship. And you can’t upgrade until you complete that mission. Then you have the open space PvP zone which became empty after a few months after release.

Matthew R

Obvious or not, I played probably far more than most players. I played it in testing, and it was the last thing I did in SWG. JTL was MANY space maps, with unique features, a bit of open exploration, and multiplayer ships.

True JTL had more potential, but for a persistent world it was a far better start. Besides missions and a bit of exploration, it also had missions, harvesting mechanics, and VERY well rendered customizable ship with customization options that had serious impact. It even incorporated a ground-based crafting profession.

Balance and bugginess come with every MMO expansion, but at the rate of bugginess of this game I’m fairly positive we’ll see quite a few bug with this expansion. I personally BTW thought the idea of changing weapons while in space stupid, so I liked the ship component system although it should have been more finished.

Space PVP was bumpy, but got a bit better, and would have made huge strides if they hadn’t started pulling Devs for the combat system attempts. For those of use that did PVP, at least in my guild, we had a blast.

Kodiak

Yeah…and JTL cost $20 I believe…if not more. This is free to subscribers. So…this is just a start…but it’s a start in the right direction for space combat. Once this comes I can see space Ops down the line. I don’t get how people can complain about free content.

Matthew R

People are saying “it’s a step in the right direction” a lot, but that’s only because space has been so bad in SWtoR to this point. This is not a good start IMO.

Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s free of critique. If you read my opinion as complaining you should reread it.

Brian A. Bischof

you know….shit it hasn’t even release yet and they are complaining….Please if you don’t like it just walk away from the game and stop whining already sheesh

Matthew R

Who’s complaining? If you noticed I said ” I’m still hopeful”, and didn’t do the blanket statement ” THIS SUCKS!” & “THE GAME IS DEAD!” BS that trolls drop in threads here. It’s my opinion of the quality of the product, and I’m entitled to it, just like you’re entitled to your opinion about the expansion, that is if you have one.
Please if you don’t like my post just walk away from the thread and stop whining already
sheesh

Brian A. Bischof

Awwwww he likes me muah =)

Brian A. Bischof

and on another note i didn’t even mention you in particular, this was for all who will complain bout this and every other thing bout the game sheesh, lol

“Compete and advance to earn ground game rewards plus new weapons, powers and abilities to customize your ultimate Starfighter!”

Also, the SWTOR game as a whole looks cartoonish: they chose a Realism approach over a Realistic approach to the art style.

Eric on the forums said that they might add PvE in the future. My guess is that the PvP was easier and faster to make and if this is successful, they will add PvE. Also, they already had PvE space battles, but people requested PvP a lot.

This looks like a good expansion.

claude1864

I have purchased my ship and hanger mod. for star citizen I cant wait for the sand box open space pvp

claude1864

I take it there is no cockpit view. If not i dont like it already

K_osss

cool!

Gavin Perkins

I am looking forward to this expansion, even if I would have
preferred something else. I play the game because of the immersion and
story, not really PVP, but I do have a soft spot for the in-game Space
missions so I am sure I will find something to enjoy in Galactic
Straighter. The trailer makes it look very fun indeed and besides, a lot
of people have been asking for this and I am sure it will popular when
it actual hits live.

What I really also like is the fact that this is something brand new
added to the game. Its expanding the game in a way it hasn’t before, and
I think this is a good sign that SWTOR has still got a lot to offer and
has a good future ahead of it.

Siks6

Are the fights unrailed or railed?

http://dulfy.net/ Dulfy

” Join 12v12 free flight combat action ”

Free flight so I am assuming it is unrailed

Siks6

I just read that. I am very excite.

Delta_V

So, no PVE content to start off, but I’d be really surprised if they *didn’t* add it down the road. Once they have the framework in place, all that should be required for PVE is AI and mission scripting, and it seems like to big an opportunity to pass up. PVP was probably implemented first because there was less work involved (no AI, less mission scripting).

Isla

Agreed. Plus, I think it fits in with the current focus on giving the PvP players some more content. I think it would be awesome if they started incorporating multi-phase fights, both in Space on Ground.

Stephen S. Bowman

this is free to everyone only difference is when early access begins and the bonuses u get

Niggachu

no shit , sherlock

Anthony

Ok now when I say this I mean it in the least whiny way. I hated PvP in SWTOR. I still do, Republic side loses 90% of the time, imperial players spam stun abilities and have 3-4 people overkilling newbies and others. It was very unbalanced most times like 4v8 and such. But this expansion looks far better than the current war zones in SWTOR. It seems to have more PvP balance to it (despite the fact if you are F2P you will get your arse kicked when you an finally start it) but it seems that the trolling and annoying strategies employed by Imperial players will not work well here ( unless bioware decides to keep stun abilities for ships which is downright mad). It also seems that the Republic players now have a chance at actually winning at PvP, because let’s face it, we suck pretty bad at PvP. And I for one would love to play this. Btw I see “gunship” as a ship class now I’m probably incorrect but does that mean we can use them to board capital ships ad fight there?(With balanced PvP of course) but seeing as it’s called Galactic Starfighter I doubt that may happen. Another question so would gunship be the equivalent to a tanking class?

idnewton

Republic side loses 90% of the time. I can tell you as an absolute fact that you do NOT play on the Harbinger server.

~_~

vfm

or on the TOFN

ChronoSeal

Yeah Republic gets spanked in Warzones pretty much every time. Though I found open world PVP was a different story, when it took 7 sith to 1 Jedi Shadow I was shocked. That being said Warzones also alter your “Stats” to “Balance” the game. And lastly, The classes are NOT perfect mirrors of each other. For example, the Inquisitor and Sage both have that AOE knockback move right? Ever notice that the Inquisitor version actually pins the target to the ground when they land? You think the Sage has that? I haven’t seen it… Its minor stuff like that, that amounts to a mountain of imbalance. But HEY! I’m ready to kick the tires and light the fires and blast some Imp fighters!!!

Galen

The ability where the sorc can pin you to the ground via lightning is an ability gained from the Lightning tree (the middle one). some players put points in that ability some don’t. that doesn’t mean a mirror class doesn’t have that ability. it is called Electric binding for the sorcs and Force wake for the sage.

Matthew R

Or Pot5

Mads

Or Begeren Colony

ThePilgrim

Or Ebon Hawk, actually now that I think about it. It very well could be.

Evo

Really?!? What server did/do you play on because I have played on 4 servers and every single one the Republic had the upper hand. I cant believe you think its only Imperials that use dirty tactics aswell, lol. And also you will find that most people are playing both Republic and Imperial alts. So its more a case of which side the best pvpers are playing on at that time. Lastly, the stuns.. They are on both sides . ALL classes are the same when it comes to stuns, you just gotta be quicker at using yours.

ThePilgrim

Hell, I play on The Ebon Hawk (Rp/PvE) and we still win a good deal over Imps in PvP. Also as far as “Tanking” there won’t be a class like that. Each of the 15 fighter specs was designed to do damage in one way or another. The gunship is the one class probably furthest from a tanks role. Its pure Damage, its three specs are called Rail Sniper, Attack Skiff, and Missile Skiff.

MrM

How the heck do you know all this :O

ThePilgrim

I would like to say I’m a Dev and I like to leak info, but that’s not true. I’ve been doing research on the SSSP for sometime now via Datamining posts. This so called “mini-game” is incredibly complex. 5 different fighter types, 3 different specs for each, and an ungodly amount of customization options. This is gonna be an epic battle. Watch out for on Ebon Hawk, cause we’re going to dominate the space battles.

faul

i play on harbinger and the pubs almost always win due to their amazing pvp guilds and pug teams its quite annoying at times

Shaun Salisbury

All ships are just dps but different styles of dps no healing no tanking it’s just all dps no getting off ships or anything like that it is just dog fighting.

Robert Hindy

I echo Evo. On Jung-Ma, the Republic regularly beat the Imperials. In the new Arenas and in Open World PvP, the Imperials win most of the time; the latter being due to about a 2:1 ratio of Imperial to Republic players. The Republic players seemed to be more seasoned on my server and work together, while the Imperials just know how to do 1v1 deathfights.

Yes, if you are faced 2v1 or 3v1, you will die. The same will be true of this expansion and of any PvP game that is balanced.

Gunships are just one of the ship classes. From the pictures, it seems to be a slower moving high DPS class. Not sure if it has better armor / shields.

Andrew McCunn

I’ve always said that the ONE thing that could bring me back to TOR from GW2 would be vastly improved space combat. Looks like I’ll be re-subbing!

That said, I really hope they take this further… I always thought it would be awesome to have a raid where you got to blast your way through a blockade in starfighters just to reach the ground raid… or even better, split the group into two and have one group have to accomplish objectives outside the station/planet while the other group fights inside!

p00n

any word on whether players earn valor doing space combat or will it be a different kind of persistence?

iceberg265

“Although I cannot go into specifics yet, what I
can say is that there is a system of leveling and progression for
Galactic Starfighter itself, and just like the rest of SWTOR,
subscribers will get a bonus to that progression.” Seems to say it will not be the same valor.

biopoo

2 months difference between sub and force2pay. lol

Kuba

actually thats very good decision

Areneth

actually difference is a year subs starts playing in 2013, prefs and f2p in 2014

RidDler2435

*facepalms* December 3rd 2013 – 4th of February 2014 is 2 months. 1 year is 12 months. So ACTUALLY its still 2 months difference.

lyeken

dude Areneth was being sarcastic….

RidDler2435

Sarcasm on internet is like winking on the phone. But honestly that isn’t sarcasm, it’d be the worlds worst attempt at sarcasm.

Niggachu

u JUST reterded Ridler,u can even get the joke , dont went full retard brah.

RidDler2435

I give up you got me, you guys are simply the best at sarcasm!

Eissturm

Anyone else thinks thats this looks a lot like a World of Warplanes clone minigame?

Nash

Not a clone of WoWP, it’s continuing of Battlefront’s space battles!

Matthew R

Dulfy, have you heard anything about rewards? Will space PVP award WZ/Ranked Comms?

ThePilgrim

Its going to have its own currency. Wouldn’t make any sense to have a SPvP match reward comms for armor useless in SPvP.

Oh I’m aware of this. Just like any other new thing Galactic Starfighter will have its own reputation system. Which entitles hollow shells of armor and weapons, possibly a mount or two.

Axe

I wonder if it will be introduced with a new story at all (even a minor one) or if it will just be presented through tutorials. Seems like i-5 and the Ilum stealth tech acquisitions by the Empire would be a good justification for the story to head into space, while the Hutts help the Republic beef up there fleet with some super duper Hutt underworld tech or something.

Alas…no PvE content has me thinking that’s unlikely

Matthew R

Yeah, the lack of a PVE story seems to be the opposite of what this game represents. Too bad really.

That said, here’s hoping this eventually starts leading to a “Galactic Control” system for a meaningful PVP galaxy impact…

ThePilgrim

There won’t much as far as PvE at launch of Galactic Starfighter but there should be a mini story. There are 4 new companions for each faction being released as well as the Kuat Drive Yards. (The Supposed reputation system for Galactic Starfighter)

I am aware that datamining isn’t the most credible source for info, but pretty much everything that has been confirmed was datamined a month or two ago.

DocReign

I think there was something about that on Swtor-spy before they got hacked a few weeks ago. Idk, all his info seems to be good and plausible, I personally will be holding out for what you bring to the table Dulfy, especially considering you only bring confirmed, accurate information.

http://dulfy.net/ Dulfy

Whatever they have is all taken from the datamined posts on reddit. I have seen it but missed the 4 new companions so I was wondering about that.

The old stuff that leaked seemed to show an optional cockpit view. Or did I just imagine that? It’d be awesome if they have it.

Lord Zalla

After hearing bout this x-pac I just had to make a new character, an imperial fighter pilot, in anticipation for the coming space battles.

Alek

I just want to mention I am ultra excited and to thank Dulfy for the continuous and timely coverage!

darkfather

So, its more PVP stuff and we can’t play all these missions alone? That pretty much destroys my interest completely. It may be free but is ruined by being PVP only stuff.

http://dulfy.net/ Dulfy

Yes 12v12 pvp only it seems like

befear

why does it matter if it is space pvp or pve? its not like warzone pvp where classes bring different things to the table. regardless of it being pvp or pve you are still going to be pew pew at ships or mission objectives.

Ste Davies

Is there any news on 2.5? the class balance changes? They don’t seem to be saying anything

VectorRoll

The more I look at what this SSSP is turning out like the more I think that they are clueless to what the majority of people were asking for. It is like they are in their own little LaLa Land.

They took the Free Flight idea and twisted it into a small 3rd Person Viewed Battle Room with only 12v12 PVP. The type of ship customization’s they are presenting are very limited and does not really come close to what was being asked for. Even though they mentioned a very small amount of what we were asking for they basically skipped over most of it. In fact they basically just decided to take their StarFox Style Mini-game and make it into a Free Flight PVP Arena.

I really hate to say this but it is like they just took their inspiration from Star Trek DAC and mixed it with their current 3rd person viewed mini-game. ROFL That is my little punch at them.

Anyways….
I said quite a few times that if they would make a really good Space Feature for this game that I would come back and that many others I knew would also look into coming back. That was the main thing that this game was lacking. From the looks of it, it will still be lacking with this idea they have as well. Sadly what me and my friends have seen so far is nothing like what we wanted. For me personally I am really saddened and depressed on what they are making. I really liked this game and would have been willing to re-sub for this, but now I do not find it worth my time to even bother with it.

Hopefully one day they will open it up more to a larger space environment, give us a 1st person cockpit view, add a lot of PVE content, and make the Ship Content worth while. On the Ship Content, I would like to see us have more of a selection ships and customization’s. To not be limited to certain ships based on Class or Faction. Also the ability to craft them and use the larger ones as player housing. I know their are many that say SWG/JTL is dead and to stop trying to bring it back, but the way that Ships were done in that game was perfect (from Crafting, to selection of ships, to how they functioned, be it from small fighters to larger multi-player crewed ships). If they could just bring in that part alone I would love it and be willing to give this a try. Unfortunately the Ship Content it is nothing like that from what I have seen.

Anyways… That is enough ranting. I said my peace and can only hope for them to make something better in the future. I am sure not everyone will agree with me on this and I do not mind. We all have our own opinions. I can only hope that some of what I like will be added to the game. Until then I can only wait and see what happens.

DavraxReigns

I do know a few things, there is alot more customization options than what they are showing. For instance, what components that you put on your Starfighter actually changes its looks and you can see the components. Plus apparently you can change the engine glow color, the laser color, the paint job on your fighter and the colors of that paint.

m’arr

i am a sub and i subscribed a month or something before the first will i still get access if i run out or do i need to buy another pack of days(sub)

http://dulfy.net/ Dulfy

Yes you will need to remain subbed to get early access

marr

so i will be ok then? i will get it

Guest

I’m not entirely certain, in order to get early access you need to be a sub when subscriber access starts.

Jairis

Dulfy, have you been able to access the expansion on the pts yet? I see that the pts server is up and running, but for some reason I can’t get in. Just wondering if testing was for a select few, like 2.0?

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